Take Care
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: When Gibbs seems concerned about a little cold when his own father would just ignore any signs of sickness and push his son aside, it confuses him. He's so oblivious of the concern and so determined to finish the case that he forgets to stop and actually take care of himself, lucky for him though Gibbs is there to help him. *father/son one-shot*


**For ABEDFAN. Sorry this took me so long! I hope you like it!**

* * *

When Tony sneezed for the seventh time that morning, he looked up to find Gibbs standing over his desk, something Tony couldn't read in his eyes. "Yes?"

"You doin' okay?" was all Gibbs asked.

Tony nodded slowly, knowing his confusion was plain in his eyes as he drawled, "Yeah..."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed as he said bluntly, "Well, you look terrible. Maybe you ought to go home. Take a sick day, DiNozzo."

"Nah," Tony brushed off the comment with a dismissive wave of his hand as he turned back to his computer. "We've almost got our current case wrapped up, and I'd like to see it through."

Gibbs' eyebrows hit his hairline, but the older man bit his tongue and returned to his own desk, allowing Tony to do whatever he wanted for the time being.

* * *

 _Nobody told me we were going to have to go back through the crime scene,_ Tony groused silently, doing his best to cough and sneeze into a kerchief so that he kept his own germs from contaminating whatever evidence might still be left at the scene.

He tried to step away entirely, retreating to stand by one of the SUVs, when he was racked by the hardest coughing spell yet. Gibbs turned from the crime scene to look at him, and Tony fought the urge to quell under the gaze. He knew he wasn't working as efficiently as normal today, but he was trying to despite being sick. Was Gibbs still getting irritated with him, though?

It looked like he was going to find out.

Gibbs marched over to him, eyebrows drawn together as he demanded shortly, "Get in the SUV, DiNozzo."

"What'd I do, boss?" Tony asked worriedly, not understanding the relevancy of the order.

"Absolutely nothing," Gibbs growled. "Including, apparently, taking care of this cold. Now get in the vehicle," he repeated, opening up the passenger-side door for Tony.

The younger man obediently slid in, still not really understanding what was happening, or what Gibbs intended to do. He was confused. _How much trouble was he_ in _if Gibbs was going to take him off-site for whatever he had planned?!_

Gibbs walked back over to the other team members, said something to McGee that Tony couldn't decipher, then marched back to the SUV, getting into the driver's seat and driving away.

"Where are we going?" Tony asked worriedly.

"My place."

"Your _house_? Why?" _What was going on?_

"DiNozzo, be quiet, will ya'?" Gibbs demanded in exasperation.

So Tony clamped his mouth shut on the rest of his questions, feeling his eyelids grow heavy the longer they drove. _He hadn't noticed how bad he truly felt until he was sitting still…_

The next thing he knew, Gibbs was shaking his shoulder, saying, "We're here; time to get out."

Tony made a face, blearily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and giving himself a second to recall where "here" was before he got out of the SUV and followed Gibbs into the house.

His boss unlocked the door and headed inside, barely glancing at Tony as he pointed towards the couch and demanded, "Take off your shoes, suit jacket, and tie, then lay down on the couch."

"Boss…" Tony drawled uncertainly, watching Gibbs start to head towards the kitchen.

"What, DiNozzo?" Gibbs snapped, turning back around to face him.

Tony threw up his hands in confusion, asking, "What are you doing?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes, muttering, "Somebody's gotta take care of you if you won't do it yourself. So what I'm _doing_ is dropping you off here and getting you some chicken noodle soup before _I_ go back to work, and _you_ stay here and take the sick day that you very clearly need."

"Don't you want me to take care of the case first?" Tony asked in confusion.

"I want you to take care of _you_ , Tony!" he snapped. Quieting back down, he added calmly, "The rest of us can handle this case without you. I don't want this cold becoming something bigger than it already is, so just take the day to nip it in the bud, all right?"

"All right," Tony agreed slowly, still not sure what to make of this, but knowing that when it doubt, it was always best to obey Gibbs.

Gibbs disappeared into the kitchen as Tony sat down, taking off his shoes, suit, and tie before lying back on the couch. By the time his boss reappeared with a bowl of chicken noodle in hand, Tony's eyes were closed, so the older man assumed the younger was asleep again. He set the bowl on the coffee table and swept an afghan from the back of the couch, draping it over still form.

Tony snorted suddenly, muttering sarcastically with a small smile, "Thanks, Dad."

His eyes were closed, so he didn't notice that Gibbs didn't even roll his eyes as he said with a small smile, "You're welcome, son."


End file.
